How the Avengers: Infinity War Post-Credits Scene Sets Up the Next Big Marvel Movie

Avengers: Infinity Warends on rather a bleak note with a number of Marvel heroes disintegrating into nothing. But a post-credits scene offers a glimmer of hope: A quick glimpse of the Captain Marvel logo hints that the superhero will be the one to swoop in and save the day in Avengers 4. But first, fans will get a solo Captain Marvel movie.

Let’s start with some background: Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury has been missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years. The former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. used to show up in every Avengers film to band our heroes together and direct the fight against whatever alien invasion or crazed robot they faced. Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) was often by his side. But the two were conspicuously missing from Captain America: Civil War and Infinity War — until the post-credits scene.

At the end of Infinity War, Thanos fulfills his genocidal — if environmentally friendly — plan to destroy half of all life in the universe and resolve his over-population concerns. Half of the superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe disintegrate along with billions of others.

In the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene, Fury and Hill are driving in New York City when they receive an alert of alien activity in Wakanda. (Apparently Iron Man didn’t bother to call Fury when he heard that Thanos was on his way to Earth.) A car crashes in front of them on the street, and they get out to check on the driver only to find that there is nobody in the driver’s seat.

Hill disintegrates, and Fury reaches for what looks to be a pager or old school smartphone. As he presses the buttons, he begins to disintegrate himself. He groans, “Motherf—er” as he floats away, and the device drops to the ground. The camera zooms in to the device which reads “sending” before a yellow star symbol on a red and blue background pops up — Captain Marvel’s logo.

Marvel Studios

As comic book fans already know, the hero wears a uniform with a yellow star on a red and blue background. Fury was trying to alert her about the alien invasion before he died, and it looks like the message did indeed get through. We can expect Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson) to fly down to Earth and offer the Avengers renewed hope.

But before Avengers 4 premieres next summer, Captain Marvel will get her own solo film, due out in March 2019. Marvel has said Captain Marvel will be set in the 1990s and will also star — you guessed it — Nick Fury. Likely, Captain Marvel will introduce the Captain Marvel character and establish a connection between her and Fury.

Captain Marvel, a fighter pilot with half-alien DNA, can fly and shoot beams from her hands. She’s ridiculously powerful and can kick Thor or Hulk’s butt. And she’s probably familiar with Thanos and his antics: She does a lot of her universe saving in space. Sounds like the perfect person to take on Thanos.

Could it be that she was on the other side of the universe when Thanos came to Earth? Did she instruct Fury to only call her when the apocalypse was under way? The teaser certainly builds up the importance of Captain Marvel, the first female superhero to get her own movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.